Chapter 2: History and Temporal Orientation: The Views of Portuguese-Speaking Students

This chapter is framed by the theoretical assumption that identity, change, and temporal orientation, when related to historical concepts, need to be put into perspective in the light of debates and empirical studies. In the history-education field, research studies are frequently concerned with what counts as knowing history and also with the kinds of connections that may be established between historical thinking and life. Beyond the substantive ideas of the past that students are constructing, this chapter will argue that it is essential to look at the historical significance, multiple perspectives and usability that students’ mental pictures of the past convey (Shemilt, 2000; Barton, 2001; Ashby, Lee, & Shemilt, 2005; Lee & Shemilt, 2007; Chapman, 2009; Cooper & Chapman, 2009; Carretero, Asensio, & Rodriguez-Moneo, 2012). Although concerns about the importance of historical knowledge for everyday life have frequently been present in studies of students’ historical thinking, this issue seems to be more explicit in studies connected with Rüsen’s (1993, 2007) reflections on historical consciousness. Some of these studies aim to develop qualitative understandings of students’ conceptions around temporal orientation beyond the single focus of national identity (Lee, 2002; Seixas, 2004; Barca, 2006; Compagnoni, Fernandes, Nette, Theobald, & Schmidt, 2006; Schmidt, 2008).